About Our Parish

Saint Margaret Church is one of two Catholic churches in Pearl River, NY, the other being Saint Aedan. Saint Margaret's has 1,500 faithful families. Our parish school and religious education programs teach over 1,000 students from pre-school to eighth grade. Our church seats two-hundred fifty and we are fortunate enough to have seven weekend and two daily Masses.

Please see infomation below regarding our Patroness.

Patroness: Saint Margaret of Antioch

Saint Margaret of Antioch lived during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian (284 – 305) who was one of the cruelest persecutors of the early Christians. It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called “Christians.” According to legend, Margaret was the daughter of a pagan priest. After her mother died she was sent to live with a nursemaid in the country. Her father did not realize, until it was too late, that the woman was a Christian and she had taught Margaret about Jesus Christ. Margaret converted to Christianity. As a result, she was scorned by her father.

Margaret became a beautiful young lady and a pagan officer named Olybrius fell in love with her. She refused to marry him because, she told him, she belonged to Jesus. This made the young man so angry that, in revenge, he had her arrested based on the fact that she was Christian. The soldiers tried very hard to make Margaret deny her love for Jesus. She was persecuted.

While in prison she was swallowed by Satan in the form of a dragon. However, the cross that she was carrying irritated his throat and he spit her out. She was unharmed. During her torture with fire and water she continued to pray and remained unharmed. As a result of her example, she converted thousands of people to Christianity. Eventually Margaret was beheaded in A.D. 304, along with many of her converts

Her Feast Day is July 20th. She is the Patron Saint of Expectant Mothers, Kidney & Back Problems. She is also one of the voices heard by Saint Joan of Arc.